Get Comfortable with Jefferson White and Tech X
Time to read 3 min
Twisted X has always been known for our cutting-edge technologies and extreme comfortability—but this year, we’re bringing an all-new meaning to comfortable Western footwear with our recent Tech X collection featuring our patent pending CellStretch® Comfort Technology.
Our latest collection—featuring four men’s and three women’s styles of Western boots—has cloud-like comfort that helps rodeo athletes, ranchers, and even actors get their day-to-day job done efficiently and comfortably.
Yes—even actors need extreme comfortability to succeed in their role—especially those who saddle up on camera in extreme cowboyin’ scenes. Jefferson White—the actor who plays ranch hand Jimmy Hurdstrom in the hit show Yellowstone—recently sat down with us to talk about how he finds comfort in the sometimes uncomfortable situations as an actor, and how a good pair of cowboy boots can make all the difference on horseback.
“So much of being an actor is being uncomfortable—being dropped in a new place at a new job, surrounded by people you don’t know. So much of [an actor’s] job is to find a way to feel at home, to find a way to feel comfortable no matter where you are,” says White. “So much of the [actor’s job] is playing characters who are at home even though they are thousands of miles from home.”
So what White tries to do is figure out how to be comfortable wherever he is—on any new set, on any new day. And White is very familiar with feeling uncomfortable, as he left the big city lights in New York City for ranches in Montana and Texas for the show. His unfamiliarity with the Western way of life and rural areas allowed his character Jimmy to come across as very authentic—and it gave him a new-found respect for the lifestyle and communities he was acting in.
As somewhat of a cowboy outsider, comfort is huge for White at work, and it really helps him settle into his character. In production, he always tried to get into the character’s shoes and spend some time walking around, because that helps him to learn the ins-and-outs of the character, where they are from, and what they do for a living.
Being comfortable in front of a camera has been a huge learning process for White. He feels that it takes being in front of a camera to slowly acclimate to it and get more confident. Directing, taking photos, and filmmaking has also helped him become more comfortable in front of the camera. He has made it a point of his to familiarize himself with all the jobs that go into production so that it feels like a cohesive, collaborative team when he steps on set.
comfortable boots are so important and it’s how you communicate with the horse you are riding...You need comfortable boots to be an effective rider.
However, there have been times throughout his career where he has been uncomfortable in part because the character was uncomfortable.
“Sometimes the character’s discomfort is just as important as being comfortable,” White says.
For example, his character Jimmy on Yellowstone was uncomfortable at the beginning of the series because he was not used to being on a horse, and that was helpful and authentic for White as it was new to him in real life as well. Through the course of the past four years of production of Yellowstone, Jefferson and his character have both become more comfortable in boots and working on a ranch.
White also expressed that it is always a learning curve working with animals on set, and every animal you work with has their own personality. What makes a horse uncomfortable might be different from what makes him comfortable, and part of his job is finding out how to get comfortable within himself because that helps the animal as well.
He also notes that “comfortable boots are so important and it’s how you communicate with the horse you are riding. You are speaking to the horse with your whole body, but especially your feet. You need comfortable boots to be an effective rider.”
As the leading brand in comfortable Western footwear, we couldn’t be more excited to partner with White for our latest CellStretch campaign. From now ‘till January 31, you can find promotions of White wearing our new Tech X designs built with CellStretch at select retailers.
Learn more about our one-of-a-kind comfort technology, Tech X, that compresses, rebounds, and distributes weight evenly with every step—from dirt arenas to movie sets and watch White get comfortable with Twisted X.
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